Home > Consumer Reviews > Belkin ADSL Wireless 54Mbps Firewall Router with 802.11g Wireless USB 2.0 Network Adapter

I have been using this bit of kit for about a month now and it's excellent. I have two computers, one upstairs and another downstairs. The connection speed on both is excellent and whats more the setting up of it is okay, but i did need to phone their customer services who are second to none. They are very friendly and sorted my problem in one phone call.

I've just use this system to set up a wireless network at home, sharing a Wanadoo Broadband connection between 2 laptops and a desktop pc. (I had to buy 2 Belkin notebook cards as well as this package.) Foolishly, didn't look on Amazon first, and ended up paying £10 more than it is currently listed here, so if you do decide to buy, make sure you don't pay more than you have to!
I wasn't sure how easy this would be to set up. There is a LAN cable in the box which I thought I would use to set up the router/modem, but for some reason - I'm not sure if it's the laptop, the cable or the router, I couldn't get this to work. However, even if you are only connecting wirelessly, it's still possible to set up the router this way as all security settings are disabled by default.
Setup with via web browswer and is quite easy to do. Where I ran into problems was with getting the security encryption up and running, because when I did so, I kept losing my ADSL connection. However, after a few hours of racking my brain, the problem is fixed and this router is working well with my new Belkin notebook card.
I've read that this router isn't happy with Windows Firewall switched on. Well, my firewall is switched on and it still seems to work fine. I've also turned the Windows Firewall off to see how good the built in one is, and it passed a Firewall test with flying colours. Apparently, I'm operating in stealth mode, which I quite like the sound of!
Signal strength around the house is fine - we've got a modern house and the internal walls are plasterboard not bricks, so I don't know how it would cope with brick walls. No interference problems noted with my cordless phone either, and even though there is a streetlight right outside the sitting room window, the signal I'm getting is good. I haven't felt the need to try this out in the garden yet (it is February as I write) so can't comment on outdoor range.
I've used the USB 2.0 network adapter on a desktop PC running Windows ME. Does the job. Also tried it on a Windows 98 machine and it wouldn't work on this. Kept asking for missing DLL files and getting itself into a stew. I wouldn't have minded using this with a laptop instead of the PCMCIA card. It's small and light and a bit like a pen drive in terms of look and size. The desktop stand for it is a nifty little USB extension cable.
So, I would give this kit a cautious thumbs up. It was a bit fiddly to get right initially, but now it's working, it's a good value and solid piece of kit.

Terrible, so many problems, will not stay connected for 4minutes straight, line will drop randomly - slow on P2P networks if connection is established at all, had 3 of these modems, Belkin will send you the same thing again and again, technical support is foreign and will call back once you left a message at night time, about 2am, no help. Avoid like the plague.

I threw this away after a month of it not working properly, bought 3com's model and runs perfectly. Worst Belkin product ever produced, amazing how they got it on the shelves.

I only have one PC which is kept upstairs - as the telephone line is downstairs I wanted to access broadband wirelessly. The set up with this package is extremely quick and easy for someone of modest PC skills. Speed is great, especially with downloads, and the connection is extremely stable. As there are 4 ethernet ports for wired access, I can also connect up the Xbox for online play.
In short, very easy, very cheap (compared to other products out there) and very reliable. Thoroughly recommended.
One word of caution - it doesn't like firewalls already installed on the PC - the modem itself has a firewall built in.

I read many reviews before choosing the Belkin - I wanted something that would work with a mixed PC & Mac environment and that was easy to set up and use and inexpensive. The Belkin takes a few mins to set up but was actually much easier than I thought. I connected it to a desktop PC and used the wireless link for a Laptop PC (a bit of a drag to setup) and an Ibook with built in Airport which recognised the Belkin immediatley and works seamlessly.
Only downside is that signal strength indoors does drop off pretty quickly with distance (& I live in a wooden house!)
Great and useful bit of kit at a great price.